Today’s notice: Democrats in Montana stare into the abyss and abortion rights opponents stare into the mirror. Plus: where to stare deeply into the eyes of your reality show date, according to Tony P.
Montana and the Twilight of the Rural Democrat
Things do not look good for Jon Tester, causing Democrats in Montana to start thinking about what comes next. And what comes next, apparently, is a full-on existential crisis. Dems are grumbling about a disappearing party infrastructure that seems to exist only when Tester needs it and otherwise has not done much to build a strong base in the state.
“Tradition in Montana is the people that are elected to the U.S. Senate, the Democrats, they kind of got their thing going on in Washington, D.C., for five years, and then they come back on the sixth year,” ex-Gov. Brian Schweitzer told NOTUS’ Casey Murray. “On that sixth year, they show up with a lot of money, and we get a lot of effort in getting Democrats to show up to vote.”
In an era of seemingly limitless money, it seems odd that Democrats haven’t figured out how to build something more permanent in rural places. But they haven’t, says Matt Barron, a rural Dem strategist who will tell anyone who listens how badly the party has failed at attracting and keeping rural voters. What comes next in Montana should be very easy to execute, he says: Dems need to invest a lot of money, fast, in building out a lasting party infrastructure that supports downstream party organizations.
“There’s a fascination with the very top of the ticket and a lot of stuff at the lower end gets ignored,” Barron told me. “That’s a stupid approach to take. Hire a rural outreach director who drives around the state looking for candidates to run in all these local offices.”
NOTUS reported last week that the DNC is so awash in cash since Kamala Harris was nominated it’s sending off some money to down-ballot races in unlikely places like Tennessee and North Dakota. It’s not much, but it doesn’t take a lot to make noise in rural places.
Barron is bothered by how temporary stuff like this is. Rural messaging starting the day after the 2024 races end could be the difference in winning or losing the next round of Republican-held seats, according to Barron.
“It’s not rocket science,” Barron told me.
—Evan McMorris-Santoro | Read more from NOTUS’ Casey Murray here.
What’s New From the Big Jack Smith Filing
If he ever gets a chance to actually put Donald Trump on trial, Jack Smith will argue the former president “knew better” but “consciously moved forward with lies meant to throw the nation and democratic process into tumult” in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6. So say the new revelations from Smith’s 165-page court filing unsealed Wednesday.
After he was told that the pandemic might delay a vote count, Trump allegedly told staff “he would simply declare victory before all the ballots were counted and any winner was projected.”
Read more from NOTUS’ Jose Pagliery.
Front Page
- Tim Walz Says He Misspoke About Befriending School Shooters: His previous statements on being in China during the Tiananmen Square protests may be tougher to excuse.
- Anti-Abortion Leaders Say They Are Facing Reality: Trump’s pledge to veto a federal abortion ban is forcing the anti-abortion movement to reckon with their fear that the former president isn’t their friend.
NOTUS Explains: How Real Is Anti-Abortion Anger at Trump?
For the most part, anti-abortion advocates have stood by Trump even as he has repeatedly and publicly reminded them what an electoral loser he thinks their cause is.
NOTUS’ Oriana González has closely followed this dynamic and reported that something appeared to shift after Trump posted during the VP debate that he would, in fact, veto a national abortion ban. A number of movement leaders began fretting that Trump could lose a good number of loyal anti-abortion voters — that he spent years wooing — as a result.
But will he really? I asked Oriana, because no one knows more than she does about abortion politics in 2024.
“The anti-abortion rights community believes Kamala Harris is an existential threat, so he’s the better option,” she told me. “They’re holding on to what he hasn’t said: He’d veto a federal ban, but what about enforcing the Comstock Act? Is he firmly opposed to federal funding for abortions? Does he support adding requirements that make it harder to access abortion if it’s legal?”
“His silence on this is keeping some advocates hopeful that he’s privately, not publicly, working with them,” she added. “They’re willing to sit in that uncertainty.”
—Evan McMorris-Santoro
Number You Should Know
$1.5 billion
In electric grid infrastructure investments announced today by the Biden administration. The funding is intended to make power cheaper, easier to transport and more resilient from severe weather.
“You need only to look at the recent devastation from Hurricane Helene to know that the climate crisis is already straining our existing grid infrastructure at the precise moment when we need that infrastructure to be larger, stronger and more reliable,” John Podesta told reporters.
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by … not us.
- Asheville’s economy was thriving until Hurricane Helene hit. The Wall Street Journal spoke to residents left wondering how they can rebuild.
- Mississippi’s lifetime voting ban on people with nonviolent and violent felony convictions alike keeps thousands from voting, The Marshall Project found.
- The Associated Press reports that residents of Butler, Pennsylvania, are on edge as Trump prepares to return to the scene of the July assassination attempt for a rally this weekend.
Tony P.’s “Love Is Blind” Advice
In honor of the “Love Is Blind” D.C. premiere on Wednesday, we asked the District’s most famous 26-year-old bachelor, Tony P., for his tips and tricks to navigate dating in #ThisTown. We started with his favorite date spots:
- Silver Lyan at the Riggs Hotel: “Go for a drink, little appetizer. I think it’s a really good first date spot.”
- Balos Estiatorio: “A mix of a nightclub with a really good restaurant … very light, very healthy and just the energy is so positive there.”
- Swingers: “Mini golf is always fun.”
- Oyamel: “Perfect portions. Also, the chips and dip are fantastic.”
- Old Ebbitt Grill: “I’ve done Ebbitt many, many times.”
Tony P. told us he doesn’t think the D.C. dating scene deserves the bad rap it usually gets. “I don’t think there’s anything personally wrong with us,” he said. The tricky part is the transient nature of life here rather than the fact of living the dating pool itself.
His advice for the “LIB” contestants? A quote from “How I Met Your Mother” he said he lives by: “That quote is that you’re one step closer to finding that special someone by every kind of chance you take in dating, right? I think this is so cool for all of them. So you’re taking five steps!”
And as far as his perfect date? Tony said he would start with something involving art, like an art museum tour or “a paint and sip type thing.” Then, he’d go back to his place to cook dinner and “a little Netflix and chill afterward.”
—Riley Rogerson
Tell Us Your Thoughts
Who would you cast on a congressional edition of “Love Is Blind” D.C.?
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